The central government on Thursday cleared a project worth Rs 2,600-crore to construct and set up a Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory- India (LIGO-India), which is likely to be completed by 2030.

Union minister Jitendra Singh said the gravitational wave observatory will come up in Hingoli in Maharashtra. The observatory will help in better understanding of astronomical objects like neutron stars and black holes and for in-depth study of gravitational waves.

For the LIGO-India, 174 acres of land have already been acquired in the Aundha area of Hingol district in Maharashtra. The environmental clearance for the project has also been given and geo-technical survey is also done. For monitoring the project, an empowered board will be set up.

There are already two such LIGO observatories in the US. LIGO-India will be the third such advanced gravitational-wave observatory as part of the worldwide network, Times of India reported.

It is envisaged as a collaborative project between a consortium of Indian research institutions and the LIGO Laboratory in USA, along with its international partners. The US will provide key components for the lab worth $80 million.

LIGO-India had received the government's in-principle approval in February 2016. Since then, the project reached several milestones towards selecting and acquiring a site and building the observatory.

The LIGO-India project will be built by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Science Foundation, US, along with several national and international research and academic institutions.

An autonomous body of the UGC will also help in the project. Additionally, Indian companies will be roped in for providing components for the project.

Once operational, LIGO-India will be scientifically managed and operated in collaboration with the US LIGO detectors to optimise the scientific return.

Image courtesy: LIGO Laboratory/Reuters